BOOK IV. I. 3-6 



ground is stirred \\-ith the trenching-spade " and the 

 trench sunk in the upturned earth, which is swollen 

 to more than two feet and a half;* for always, in 

 level ground, earth that is throA\'n out and then back 

 again swells higher than the level of the unbroken 

 ground. And surely the setting of plants does not 

 require that a very deep bed be spread beneath them ; 

 but it is sufficient that half a foot of loose earth lie 4 

 beneath the planted vines, that it may. so to speak, 

 receive the increase of the growing plants into its 

 hospitable — I might say even maternal — bosom. Let 

 us take an instance of this in the arbustum*^ where, 

 after digging planting-holes, we throw a verj^ small 

 bit of dust under the quickset. There is, then, a 5 

 truer reason for trenching the ground deeper, in that 

 " yoked " "^ vineyards grow up better when planted 

 in deeper holes. P'or two-foot holes could hardly 

 be approved even by farmers in the provinces, 

 with whom a vine is usually of low stature and kept 

 close to the ground ; while one that is intended for 

 the yoke (trellis) must be steadied by a deeper 

 foundation, since if it merely climbs higher, it demands 

 more nourishment and more earth. And on this 6 

 account, in wedding vines to trees, no one prepares 

 a planting-hole less than three feet deep for the 

 vines. But it is with little insight into the interests 

 of husbandmen, that he remarks that there are 

 peculiar advantages in shallow planting, in that 



" I.e., to a depth of about two feet. Cf. III. 5. 3, note ; 

 XL 3. 11; DeArb. 1.5. 



* As prescribed for level ground. On the various depths of 

 trenching and the proportionate swelling of the earth, see, 

 e.g., III. 13. 8, XI. 3. 10. 



' See III. 2. 9, not«. 



•* I.e. vines trained to iuga (yokes). See III. 2. 8, note. 



355 



